Contents

The Movie

Synopsis

Track of the Moon Beast

Track of the Moon Beast revolves around Paul Carlson (Cordell), a grad-student mineralogist who gets a small fragment of moon rock embedded in his brain during a meteor shower. When the moon is full, he transforms into a seven-foot bipedal lizard and starts eating people.

The authorities call in local anthropologist Professor Johnny Longbow (Sala), an expert in Navajo legends, archery, and stew. Longbow, who is best friends with Paul the were-lizard, realizes that the terrible manifestation of a Navajo legend has indeed occurred, and there is only one thing that can be done about it.

Information

'Sid' the drunk bowler (and the first of Paul's victims) has his bowling bag magically disappear during one of the cuts.

Shot in September 1972, then sat on the shelf for 4 years, looking for a distributor. In the end, it went straight to television.

Co-writer Bill Finger was a long-time comic book writer and was instrumental in creating many elements of the Batman mythos.

Bill Finger and Charles Sinclair wrote the script in a weekend.

The Episode

Host Segments

Tom and Crow showing Mike their blossoming garden, made of the SOL's junk.

Segment Two: Recreating the first scene of the movie, Crow, Servo, and Gypsy rush the Halloween season. Mike, unimpressed, continues to eat pea pods. An embarrassed and contrite Crow acts as though Mike was terrified, but takes it a little too far.

Pearl controls Bobo with a universal remote

Segment Three: SOL's Legends of Rock present: The tragic story behind The Band That Played "California Lady."

Segment Four: With the help of the Mobile Personnel Reconnaissance Robot, Servo and Crow might finally learn what kind of pajamas Mike wears!

Segment Five: While playing with his bow and arrow, Servo accidentally shoots a baby satellite. Brain Guy give Bobo a few pointers on how to care for his newly exposed brain. Pearl hates that.

Stinger: Girl is wowed by moon rocks.

Quotes & References

The Spahn Ranch was home to Charles Manson and his "family" prior to their killing spree. While this movie was not filmed at Spahn Ranch, a previous experiment Mike and the bots were subjected to was: The Creeping Terror.

A reference to the Where's Waldo? series of books by Martin Hanford, where the reader is tasked with finding a man in a signature striped sweater and bobble hat outfit amidst a series of chaotic illustrated scenes.

'"He opens his curtains and immediately gets hit by Skylab!"

In 1979, the abandoned NASA space station Skylab re-entered Earth's atmosphere, and much of the debris landed in western Australia.

"I am the Jim Morrison king!"

An inversion of a line from Jim Morrison's spoken-word piece "Celebration of the Lizard", in which Morrison states "I am the Lizard King".

The Moon Beast slightly resembles the reptilian Gorn alien that fought Captain Kirk in the Star Trek Original Series episode "Arena".

Paul: "I'd like to see Cathy." Crow: "And I'd like to see Marmaduke."

This riff (along with Mike's subsequent "Aaack!") are references to the long-running comic strip "Cathy". Cathy was a single, professional woman who often responded to frustrating situations by crying "Aaack!". Marmaduke is another long-running newspaper comic, about a large mischievous Great Dane.

"Does anyone need a food cart to crap on?"

​In 1995 an investment banker named Gerald Finneran got stinking drunk on a United Airlines flight. After being refused more alcohol, Finneran dropped his pants and defecated on a service cart in the first class section. He received two years probation, 300 hours of community service, a fine of $5000 and ordered to pay $50,000 in total restitution to the other passengers.

"I must get to my Skitch Henderson convention."

​Lyle "Skitch" Henderson was a composer and conductor, working for NBC much of his career. He appeared on the popular television show "Sing Along With Mitch".

"Hey, did you hear about Niels Bohr and his wife?"

Niels Bohr (1885-1962) was a Danish physicist who was one of the chief architects of quantum mechanics, which has been called the most successful scientific theory of all time. Later in his life he worked extensively with Americans on the Manhattan Project.

"Tonight on 'Sightings'."

Sightings was a TV series about the paranormal that aired during the 1990s, notably on the SciFi Channel.

"I need a wheat penny and a Glock."

Among coin collectors, the term "wheat penny" refers to pennies minted between 1909 and 1958. A Glock is a type of handgun.

"Let's throw water balloons on Georgia O'Keeffe!"

​American painter Georgia O'Keeffe worked and lived in New Mexico. She preferred a semi-hermitic lifestyle.

Memorable Quotes

[Archaeology professor Johnny "Longbow" Salina and his students walk off after a prank.]

Kathy: Um… why do you call him "Johnny Longbow"?

Paul: Well, it's his Indian name. His tribal one.

Mike [as Paul]: Like Wahoo McDaniel.

Paul: It translates: "warrior's bow that... reaches long to its mark".

Crow [as Kathy]: Oh! Is he seeing anyone?

[During one of Johnny Longbow's long-winded monologues, thunder rumbles in the distance.]

Crow [as God]: Stop talking, Johnny Longbone(sic)!

[A meteor has just landed right by Paul and Kathy.]

Kathy: Paul, are you alright? What happened?

Servo: She gets off the ground saying, "What happened?" a lot.

[Kathy is worried about a cut on Paul's forehead.]

Paul: I don't live too far from here. And I have lots of antiseptics at my place.